60-663: In Western Australian Aboriginal mythology , the Wati kutjara (also Wati kutjarra or Wadi Gudjara ) are two young lizard -men ( totem : goanna ) who, in the Dreaming , travelled all over the Western Desert . In English, their songline is often called the Two Men Dreaming . The Wati kutjara are ubiquitous in the mythology of the Western Desert ; Their journey extends for thousands of kilometres, stretching from
120-609: A giant snake ), then regurgitated before being accepted as young adults with all the rights and privileges of young adults. Pintupi people's country Scholars of the Pintupi peoples (from within Australia's Gibson Desert region) believe they have a predominantly 'mythic' form of consciousness , within which events occur and are explained by the preordained social structures and orders told of, sung about, and performed within their superhuman mythology, rather than by reference to
180-639: A 7-week period beached at the site of the present town of Cooktown while the Endeavour was being repaired. From this time the Guugu Yimidhirr did receive present-day names for places occurring in their local landscape; and the Guugu Yimmidhir recollect this encounter. The pan-Australian Captain Cook myth, however, tells of a generic, largely symbolic British character who arrives from across
240-526: A belief that life is "... a joyous thing with maggots at its centre." Life is good and benevolent, but throughout life's journey, there are numerous painful sufferings that each individual must come to understand and endure as he grows. This is the underlying message repeatedly being told within the Murrinh-patha myths. It is this philosophy that gives Murrinh-patha people motive and meaning in life. The following Murrinh-patha myth, for instance,
300-470: A decision after the public has had time to comment and raise possible objections. The listing, if it took place, was based on an assessment of the values of the nominated place, whether "aesthetic, historic, scientific, or social significance, or other special value". A listing on the Register required that a Commonwealth Minister or authority should not take any course of action that would adversely affect
360-490: A kind of unwritten ( oral ) library within which Aboriginal peoples learn about the world and perceive a peculiarly Aboriginal 'reality' dictated by concepts and values vastly different from those of western societies : Aboriginal people learned from their stories that a society must not be human-centred but rather land centred, otherwise they forget their source and purpose ... humans are prone to exploitative behaviour if not constantly reminded they are interconnected with
420-692: A listed subject. The Council itself could not make decisions on a proposed course of action; such decisions were made by the Federal Minister or the relevant authority contemplating the course of action. Evaluation of nominated places was based on the following criteria: Its importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia's natural or cultural history Its possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Australia's natural or cultural history Its potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Australia's natural or cultural history Its importance in demonstrating
480-777: A number of Aboriginal groups around Australia. Included in his assemblage are: set up the people [cattle industry] to go down the countryside and shoot people down, just like animal, they left them lying there for the hawks and crows... So a lot of old people and young people were struck by the head with the end of a gun and left there. They wanted to get the people wiped out because Europeans in Queensland had to run their stock: horses and cattle. The response to death in Aboriginal religion may seem similar in some respects to that to be found in European traditions - notably in regard to
540-666: A particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons Its special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Australia's natural or cultural history The Register of the National Estate was frozen in February 2007. In 2003 the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 , which had established the RNE, was repealed. In its place
600-536: A person leaves their body during sleep, and temporarily enters the Dreamtime". There are many songlines which include reference to the stars, planets and the Moon, although the complex systems which go to make up Australian Aboriginal astronomy also serve practical purposes, such as navigation. Murrinh-Patha people's country The Murrinh-Patha people (whose country is the saltwater country immediately inland from
660-514: A variety of reasons. It covered natural environments as well as European history and Aboriginal culture . Anyone could suggest that a certain site should be listed on the Register of the National Estate. A nomination form was provided and was then submitted to an expert group for evaluation. If a place was accepted for listing, the nomination was declared in the Commonwealth Gazette and newspapers. The Heritage Council eventually made
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#1732765118632720-432: A web of subtle connections, to that greater whole: "For Aboriginal people when a person dies some form of the persons spirit and also their bones go back to the country they were born in". "Aborigine people [sic] believe that they share their being with their country and all that is within it". "So when a person dies their country suffers, trees die and become scarred because it is believed that they came into being because of
780-521: Is generally and variously identified by those who tell 'Rainbow Serpent' myths, as a snake of some enormous size often living within the deepest waterholes of many of Australia's waterways; descended from that larger being visible as a dark streak in the Milky Way , it reveals itself to people in this world as a rainbow as it moves through water and rain, shaping landscapes, naming and singing of places, swallowing and sometimes drowning people; strengthening
840-538: Is not celebrated. More often within the Aboriginal telling, he proves to be a villain . The many Aboriginal versions of this Captain Cook are rarely oral recollections of encounters with the Lieutenant James Cook who first navigated and mapped Australia's east coast on HM Bark Endeavour in 1770. Guugu Yimidhirr predecessors, along the Endeavour River , did encounter James Cook during
900-505: Is performed in Murrinh-patha ceremonies to initiate young men into adulthood. "A woman, Mutjinga (the 'Old Woman'), was in charge of young children, but instead of watching out for them during their parents' absence, she swallowed them and tried to escape as a giant snake. The people followed her, spearing her and removing the undigested children from the body." Within the myth and in its performance, young, unadorned children must first be swallowed by an ancestral being (who transforms into
960-515: Is really just the sky. As long as certain rituals were carried out during their life and at the time of their death, the deceased is allowed to enter The Land of the Dead in the "Sky World". The spirit of the dead is also a part of different lands and sites and then those areas become sacred sites . This explains why the Aboriginal people are very protective of sites they call sacred. The rituals that are performed enable an Aboriginal person to return to
1020-477: Is seen by many Indigenous peoples as confirmation of their creation beliefs... The routes taken by the Creator Beings in their Dreamtime journeys across land and sea... link many sacred sites together in a web of Dreamtime tracks criss-crossing the country. Dreaming tracks can run for hundreds, even thousands of kilometres, from desert to the coast [and] may be shared by peoples in countries through which
1080-737: The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ( EPBC Act ) and the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003 provided for a new system of heritage protection for nationally significant places. In 2006 the EPBC Act and the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003 were amended to freeze the RNE, and to allow five years to phase out statutory references to the RNE. As a result of these changes: In February 2012,
1140-643: The Commonwealth Heritage List were created and by 2007 the Register had been replaced by these and various state and territory heritage registers. Places listed on the Register remain in a non-statutory archive and are still able to be viewed via the National Heritage Database . The register was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission , after which
1200-572: The Kimberley to South Australia . Wati kutjara is one of the most important Dreamings around Balgo ; in Kukatja narratives, the Wati kutjara are often likened to the wind, whose form they adopt when in danger. The men's first action is to sing about their names in order to establish their own identity. Then they decide to travel about, and eventually decide to head south-east in order to enlighten
1260-705: The Pleistocene era." Since then, Dixon has assembled a number of similar examples of Australian Aboriginal myths that accurately describe landscapes of an ancient past. He particularly noted the numerous myths telling of previous sea levels, including: Other volcanic eruptions in Australia may also be recorded in Aboriginal myths, including Mount Gambier in South Australia, and Kinrara in northern Queensland. The stories enshrined in Aboriginal mythology variously "tell significant truths within each Aboriginal group's local landscape . They effectively layer
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#17327651186321320-533: The language groups across Australia in their ceremonies . Aboriginal spirituality includes the Dreamtime ( the Dreaming ), songlines , and Aboriginal oral literature . Aboriginal spirituality often conveys descriptions of each group's local cultural landscape , adding meaning to the whole country's topography from oral history told by ancestors from some of the earliest recorded history . Most of these spiritualities belong to specific groups, but some span
1380-399: The Aboriginal people, dead relatives are very much a part of continuing life. It is believed that in dreams dead relatives communicate their presence." At times they may bring healing if the dreamer is in pain". "Death is seen as part of a cycle of life in which one emerges from Dreamtime through birth, and eventually returns to the timeless, only to emerge again. It is also a common belief that
1440-483: The Australian continent all appeared to share variations of a single (common) myth telling of an unusually powerful, often creative, often dangerous snake or serpent of sometimes enormous size closely associated with the rainbows, rain, rivers, and deep waterholes. Radcliffe-Brown coined the term 'Rainbow Serpent' to describe what he identified to be a common, recurring myth. Working in the field in various places on
1500-738: The Australian continent, he noted the key character of this myth (the 'Rainbow Serpent') is variously named: Kanmare ( Boulia, Queensland ); Tulloun : ( Mount Isa ); Andrenjinyi ( Pennefather River , Queensland), Takkan ( Maryborough, Queensland ); Targan ( Brisbane , Queensland); Kurreah ( Broken Hill, New South Wales ); Wawi ( Riverina , New South Wales), Neitee & Yeutta ( Wilcannia, New South Wales ), Myndie ( Melbourne , Victoria); Bunyip (Western Victoria ); Arkaroo (Flinders Ranges, South Australia); Wogal ( Perth , Western Australia); Wanamangura ( Laverton, Western Australia ); Kajura ( Carnarvon, Western Australia ); Numereji ( Kakadu, Northern Territory ). This 'Rainbow Serpent'
1560-453: The Man in the Moon by throwing a magical boomerang , Kidili , because he tried to rape the first woman. In other versions, the Wati kutjara are the ones attempting to seduce the same group of women. Australian Aboriginal mythology Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of
1620-558: The Register was replaced by the Australian National Heritage List for places of outstanding heritage value for Australia and the Commonwealth Heritage List for heritage places that are owned or controlled by the Commonwealth of Australia, together with a collection of state and territory heritage registers that most were in existence for many years. The RNE is maintained on a non-statutory basis as
1680-412: The bodies of the mourners. In some Aboriginal cultures, the body is placed on a raised platform for several months, covered in native plants, or in a cave or tree. When only the bones remain, family and friends scatter them in various ways, or place them in a special place. Many Aboriginal people believe in a place called the "Land of the Dead". This place was also commonly known as the "sky-world", which
1740-569: The bodies of these people... It is only when talking and being with these people that these 'feelings' can truly be appreciated. This is... the intangible reality of these people... Aboriginal people observe some places as sacred, owing to their central place in the mythology of the local people. In 1926 a British anthropologist specialising in Australian Aboriginal ethnology and ethnography , Professor Alfred Radcliffe-Brown , noted many Aboriginal groups widely distributed across
1800-411: The continuing influence of their Dreaming. Within this Aboriginal religion, no distinction is drawn between things spiritual/ideal/mental and things material; nor is any distinction drawn between things sacred and things profane: rather all life is 'sacred', all conduct has 'moral' implication, and all life's meaning arises out of this eternal, everpresent Dreaming . In fact, the isomorphic fit between
1860-417: The deceased are often not allowed, for the same reason. A smoking ceremony may be conducted, using smoke on the belongings and in the home of the deceased, which is believed to aid in releasing the spirit. The cause of death, often of a spiritual nature, may be determined by Aboriginal elders . Ceremonies and mourning periods can last days, weeks and even sometimes months depending upon the social status of
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1920-433: The deceased person". When an Aboriginal person dies the families have death ceremonies called the " Sorry Business ". During this time the person is mourned for days by the family and whole community, crying together and sharing their grief. Often the deceased person's family stay in one room and mourn together. Naming a person after their death is often taboo, as it is thought that it could disturb their spirit. Photos of
1980-429: The deceased person. It is culturally inappropriate for a non-Aboriginal person to contact and inform the next of kin of a person's passing. When someone passes away, the family of the deceased move out of their house and another family then moves in. Some families will move to "sorry camps", which are usually further away. Mourning includes the recital of symbolic chants, the singing of songs, dance, body paint, and cuts on
2040-434: The different groupings in maps have varied widely. The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia nevertheless observes: "One intriguing feature [of Aboriginal Australian mythology] is the mixture of diversity and similarity in myths across the entire continent." The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation 's booklet, Understanding Country , formally seeks to introduce non-Indigenous Australians to Aboriginal perspectives on
2100-400: The distinctive words and names of individual myths derive. With so many distinct Aboriginal groups, languages, beliefs and practices, scholars cannot attempt to characterise, under a single heading, the full range and diversity of all myths being variously and continuously told, developed, elaborated, performed, and experienced by group members across the entire continent. Attempts to represent
2160-456: The entitlements of people to places are usually regarded strongest when those people enjoy a relationship of identity with one or more Dreamings of that place. This is an identity of spirit, a consubstantiality , rather than a matter of mere belief...: the Dreaming pre-exists and persists, while its human incarnations are temporary. Aboriginal specialists willing to generalise believe all Aboriginal myths across Australia, in combination, represent
2220-456: The environment. It makes the following generalisation about Aboriginal myths and mythology: ...they generally describe the journeys of ancestral beings, often giant animals or people, over what began as a featureless domain. Mountains, rivers, waterholes, animal and plant species, and other natural and cultural resources came into being as a result of events which took place during these Dreamtime journeys. Their existence in present-day landscapes
2280-442: The formative volcanic explosions described by Aboriginal myth tellers as having occurred more than 10,000 years ago. Pollen fossil sampling from the silt which had settled to the bottom of the craters confirmed the Aboriginal myth-tellers' story. When the craters were formed, eucalyptus forests dominated rather than the current wet tropical rainforests . Dixon observed from the evidence available that Aboriginal myths regarding
2340-406: The holding of a ceremony to mark the death of an individual and the observance of a period of mourning for that individual. Any such similarity, however, is, at best, only superficial (with ceremony and mourning of some kind being common to most, if not all, human cultures). In death - as in life - Aboriginal spirituality gives pre-eminence to the land and sees the deceased as linked indissolubly, by
2400-430: The knowledgeable with rainmaking and healing powers; blighting others with sores, weakness, illness, and death. Even Australia's ' Bunyip ' was identified as a 'Rainbow Serpent' myth of the above kind. The term coined by Radcliffe-Brown is now commonly used and familiar to broader Australian and international audiences, as it is increasingly used by government agencies, museums, art galleries, Aboriginal organisations and
2460-429: The land. Some emerged at their specific sites and stayed spiritually in that vicinity. Others came from somewhere else and went somewhere else. Many were shape changing, transformed from or into human beings or natural species, or into natural features such as rocks but all left something of their spiritual essence at the places noted in their stories. Australian Aboriginal mythologies have been characterised as "at one and
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2520-443: The life in time in practical ways". "The individual who enters the Dreamtime feels no separation between themselves and their ancestors". "The strengths and resources of the timeless enter into what is needed in the life of the present". "The future is less uncertain because the individual feels their life as a continuum linking past and future in unbroken connection". Through Dreamtime the limitations of time and space are overcome. For
2580-474: The listed subjects unless there was no alternative; in the latter case, the Minister was obliged to take steps to minimise any effect on the listed subject. The listing did not impose any legal obligations on private owners, companies, State governments or local governments. The Australian Heritage Council had to be consulted if any government wanted to take a course of action that might have an adverse effect on
2640-457: The media to refer to the pan-Australian Aboriginal myth specifically, and as a shorthand allusion to Australian Aboriginal mythology generally. A number of linguists, anthropologists and others have formally documented another common Aboriginal myth occurring across Australia. Predecessors of the myth tellers encounter a mythical, exotic (most often English) character who arrives from the sea, bringing western colonialism , either offering gifts to
2700-436: The natural and supernatural means that all nature is coded and charged by the sacred , while the sacred is everywhere within the physical landscape. Myths and mythic tracks cross over.. thousands of miles, and every particular form and feature of the terrain has a well-developed 'story' behind it. Animating and sustaining this Murrinh-patha mythology is an underlying philosophy of life that has been characterised by Stanner as
2760-470: The oceans sometime after the Aboriginal world was formed and the original social order founded. This Captain Cook is a harbinger of dramatic transformations in the social order, bringing change and a different social order, into which present-day audiences have been born. (see above regarding this social function played by Aboriginal myths) In 1988 Australian anthropologist Kenneth Maddock assembled several versions of this Captain Cook myth as recorded from
2820-606: The origin of the Crater Lakes might be dated as accurate back to 10,000 years ago. Further investigation of the material by the Australian Heritage Commission led to the Crater Lakes myth being listed nationally on the Register of the National Estate , and included within Australia's World Heritage nomination of the wet tropical forests , as an "unparalleled human record of events dating back to
2880-545: The people there who do not possess the rituals known to the Dreaming heroes. As they travel, they sing of the animals, plants and geographic features that they encounter, naming them and calling them into being. Filled with magical power, these two unmarried brothers eventually travelled all over the Western Desert destroying many dangerous evil spirits. They also created sacred objects . The Wati kutjara feature in innumerable stories, whose details vary from region to region. In one recension, they are credited with castrating
2940-413: The performer's predecessors or bringing great harm upon the performer's predecessors. This key mythical character is most often named "Captain Cook", this being a mythical character shared with the broader Australian community, who also attribute James Cook with playing a key role in colonising Australia. The Aboriginal Captain Cook is attributed with bringing British rule to Australia, but his arrival
3000-557: The possible accumulated political actions, decisions and influences of local individuals (i.e. this understanding effectively 'erases' history). Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and
3060-416: The principal characteristics of: (i) a class of Australia's natural or cultural places; or (ii) a class of Australia's natural or cultural environments Its importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics valued by a community or cultural group Its importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period Its strong or special associations with
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#17327651186323120-624: The register was maintained by the Australian Heritage Council . 13,000 places were listed. The expression "national estate" was first used by the British architect Clough Williams-Ellis , and reached Australia in the 1970s. It was incorporated into the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 and was used to describe a collection of buildings and sites that were worthy of preservation for
3180-552: The rest of creation, that they as individuals are only temporal in time, and past and future generations must be included in their perception of their purpose in life. People come and go but the Land, and stories about the Land, stay. This is a wisdom that takes lifetimes of listening, observing and experiencing ... There is a deep understanding of human nature and the environment... sites hold 'feelings' which cannot be described in physical terms... subtle feelings that resonate through
3240-419: The same time fragments of a catechism , a liturgical manual, a history of civilization , a geography textbook, and to a much smaller extent a manual of cosmography ." There are 900 distinct Aboriginal groups across Australia, each distinguished by unique names usually identifying particular languages , dialects , or distinctive speech mannerisms . Each language was used for original myths, from which
3300-502: The service of these social purposes in an otherwise rapidly changing modern world . It is always integral and common... that the Law ( Aboriginal law ) is something derived from ancestral peoples or Dreamings and is passed down the generations in a continuous line. While... entitlements of particular human beings may come and go, the underlying relationships between foundational Dreamings and certain landscapes are theoretically eternal ...
3360-544: The town of Wadeye ) describe a Dreamtime in their myths which anthropologists believe is a religious belief equivalent to, though wholly different from, most of the world's other significant religious beliefs. In particular, scholars suggest the Murrinh-Patha have a oneness of thought, belief, and expression unequalled within Christianity , as they see all aspects of their lives, thoughts and culture as under
3420-463: The tracks pass... Australian anthropologists willing to generalise suggest Aboriginal myths still being performed across Australia by Aboriginal peoples serve an important social function amongst their intended audiences: justifying the received ordering of their daily lives; helping shape peoples' ideas; and assisting to influence others' behaviour. In addition, such performance often continuously incorporates and "mythologises" historical events in
3480-530: The whole continent in one form or another. An Australian linguist , R. M. W. Dixon , recording Aboriginal myths in their original languages, encountered coincidences between some of the landscape details being told about within various myths, and scientific discoveries being made about the same landscapes. In the case of the Atherton Tableland , myths tell of the origins of Lake Eacham , Lake Barrine , and Lake Euramoo . Geological research dated
3540-475: The whole of the Australian continent's topography with cultural nuance and deeper meaning, and empower selected audiences with the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of Australian Aboriginal ancestors back to time immemorial ". David Horton 's Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia contains an article on Aboriginal mythology observing: A mythic map of Australia would show thousands of characters, varying in their importance, but all in some way connected with
3600-460: The womb of all time, which is "Dreamtime". It allows the spirit to be connected once more to all nature, to all their ancestors, and to their own personal meaning and place within the scheme of things. "The Dreamtime is a return to the real existence for the aborigine". "Life in time is simply a passing phase – a gap in eternity". It has a beginning and it has an end. "The experience of Dreamtime, whether through ritual or from dreams, flowed through into
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